Gigabyte 970a-ds3 motherboard

[tomafc94]

Hi,

I am hoping that somebody could help me, I am not sure this is the appropriate page to post this.

I am currently in the process of building a gaming PC, I have got the Gigabyte 970a-ds3 motherboard, in a coolermaster elite 431 case. There is one screw hole on the motherboard that does not have a hole in the case for it to go in, therefore making it slightly movable, I have tightened the other screws as much as i can but the motherboard can still be moved up and down the screws a bit.

I am no expert at this sort of thing I am training to be an IT technician currently, the motherboard is still held up by the stand-offs basically my question is, does it really matter if the board is slightly movable up and down a few of the screws?

[Vezina]

There should be 6 main screws installed practically to not have issues.

4 around the CPU socket and another 2 in lower side so the PCI/PCI-E cards fit sturdy.
Some of the ones to the right of the board can be optional , if the board has narrower ATX design.

You can find some rubber spacers (some mATX cases may have them) and glue them on the case in the places where they are missing by case design or where they could help in keeping the board sturdy against pressure  ,like near the SATA connectors or the main power connector.
Some cases deliver plastic spacers though ,that you insert in the motherboard holes where there is  no corresponding stand-off .

I presume you are talking about the board bending when you press against it and not that the board is still moving up and down and right to left when the screws are in.That should not happen if the screws are the proper ones.

And make sure spacers are where there are holes for them otherwise you will get short circuits on the board causing malfunctioning or damage.
Remove any of them if they are in the wrong places.

[tomafc94]

I will look at standoff arrangement when I get in, I think there are 6 screw holes in motherboard, the southern most hole by the RAM slots shown in image does not align and has no slot for a standoff in the case, also if i gently push motherboard it moves up and down screws but they do not tighten anymore, I have the proper motherboard screws purchased online.

Thanks for your help

[Vezina]

If they don t get in all the way in then you should get shorter ones ,the case may be a non standard one.
You can use the longer ones for other things.

You re welcome!